American Electric Power (AEP) vs. Its Rivals Financial Contrast

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) is one of 104 public companies in the “Electric Utilities” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare American Electric Power to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Electric Power and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Electric Power	$21.88 billion	$3.58 billion	20.73
American Electric Power Competitors	$13.64 billion	$1.54 billion	20.21

American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. American Electric Power is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares American Electric Power and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Electric Power	14.21%	10.52%	2.91%
American Electric Power Competitors	14.14%	9.73%	3.20%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.0% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power pays out 61.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 64.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. American Electric Power has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

American Electric Power has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power’s competitors have a beta of -2.29, indicating that their average share price is 329% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for American Electric Power and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Electric Power	0	8	16	0	2.67
American Electric Power Competitors	1426	6539	5518	140	2.32

American Electric Power presently has a consensus target price of $139.83, suggesting a potential upside of 8.96%. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 3.95%. Given American Electric Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Electric Power is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

American Electric Power beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc., an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments. The company generates electricity using coal and lignite, natural gas, renewable, nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, and other energy sources. It also supplies and markets electric power at wholesale to other electric utility companies, rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, and other market participants. American Electric Power Company, Inc. was incorporated in 1906 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.